Daniel 11:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 11:28
Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.
the heart (as the most interior organ) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
holy
קֹ֑דֶשׁKo.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
covenant
בְּרִ֣יתbe.Rit
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular construct
do
וְעָשָׂ֖הve.'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
return
וְשָׁ֥בve.Shav
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
land
לְאַרְצֽוֹle.'ar.Tzo
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Daniel 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destro…
Daniel 11:22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Daniel 11:30-32 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant:…
Acts 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 11:21–end
All this is a prophecy of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn spoken of before (Dan 8:9) a sworn enemy to the Jewish religion, and a bitter persecutor of those that adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of the Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these, because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of Antiochus were foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would cease, and they would find it necessary to have recourse to the written word. Some things in this prediction concerning Antiochus are alluded to in the New Testament predictions of the antichris…
(1 Maccabees 1:19, 20, &c.).
against the holy covenant--On his way back to Syria, he attacked Jerusalem, the metropolis of Jehovah's covenant-people, slew eighty thousand, took forty thousand prisoners, and sold forty thousand as slaves (2 Maccabees 5:5-14).
he shall do exploits--He shall effect his purpose. Guided by Menelaus, the high priest, he entered the sanctuary with blasphemies, took away the gold and silver vessels, sacrificed swine on the altar, and sprinkled broth of the flesh through the temple (2 Maccabees 5:15-21).
Adam Clarke on Daniel 11:28
Then shall he return onto his land with great riches - Antiochus did return, laden with riches, from the spoils that he took in Egypt; see 1 Maccabees 1:19, 20. And hearing that there had been a report of his death, at which the citizens of Jerusalem had made great rejoicings: -
His heart shall be against the holy covenant - He was determined to take a severe revenge, and he had an ostensible pretext for it, for Jason, who had been deprived of the high priesthood, hearing the report of the death of Antiochus, raised forces, marched against Jerusalem, took it, and obliged Menelaus, the high priest, to shut himself up in the castle. Antiochus brought a great army against Jerusalem; took it by…
But nonetheless he will then return to his own kingdom with much wealth and great abundance. "And his heart will be against the holy covenant." At last, he will have one endeavor, namely, to destroy the law given by God to the Jews. Because he desires this, he puts his plans into effect. "And he will act and return to his land." The book of the Maccabees and the history of Josephus explain this.
"And his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed and return into his own land." Both the Greek and the Roman historians relate that after Antiochus had been expelled from Egypt and had gone back once more, he came to Judaea, that is, against the holy covenant, and that he despoiled the Temple and removed a huge amount of gold; and then, having stationed a garrison in the citadel, he returned to his own land.
Then at this point, the army, which dwelt in Syria, having heard what happened, ran against them and made war against them on the day of the Sabbath. Those who feared the law of God and who kept the commandment of God did not lift up their hands against them, nor throw a stone against them, nor devise hiding places. And the soldiers answered them and said, "'Come forth now and do the command of the king and live!' but they said, 'We will not come out, nor will we do the command of the king, we will die in our sincerity. Heaven and earth testifies against you because you kill us recklessly.'" [1 Maccabees 2:29-37] Then they fell upon them in fire and murder and in captivity and killed from them over a thousand souls. And so what was spoken to the blessed Daniel was fulfilled, "And he will go on a journey and his heart shall be lifted up against the holy covenant, and he shall want to do all according to his heart, and my slaves shall be persecuted and weakened in hunger and in sword and in captivity." [Daniel 11:28]
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Macedonian Empire, The · Predictions respecting: History of its four divisions — Predictions respecting: History of its four divisions
Syria · Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire — Prophecies respecting: Its history in connection with the Macedonia empire
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Daniel 11:28
Then shall he return into his land with great riches,.... That is, Antiochus, with the spoils of Egypt, and the gifts and presents he had received there; so the author of the first book of Maccabees says,
"20 And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, 21 And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof,'' (1 Maccabees 1)
that is, of the era of the Selucidae, and the fifth or sixth year of his reign:
and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; not the covenant he had made with Ptolemy,…
Daniel 11:28
28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.
28. Et revertetur in terram suam cum opibus magnis, et cor ejus ad foedus sanctitatis, et faciet, et revertetur in terram suam.
Here the angel predicts the calamitous nature of that peace for the people of God, because Antiochus should turn his arms against Jerusalem and the whole Jewish people. It is said, He shall return to his own land, because he shall not possess Egypt. This return implies the victory of Antiochus, and yet his betaking himself within the boundaries of his own realm. When he adds, with great pomp…
The success gained by the crafty king of the north in his war against the king of the south (Dan 11:25.) increases his endeavours after the enlarging of his dominions. Returning from Egypt with great riches, i.e., with rich spoil, he raises his heart against the holy covenant. By the potentialis ישׁב (he shall return) this new undertaking is placed in the point of view of a divine decree, to denote that he thereby brings about his own destruction. קדשׁ בּרית signifies not the holy people in covenant with God (v. Lengerke, Maurer, and many older interpreters), but the divine institution of the Old Covenant, the Jewish Theocracy. The Jews are only members of this covenant, cf. Dan 11:30. Calvi…
Antiochus IV plundered Jerusalem and the Temple in 170 BC, killing thousands and enslaving others (1 Maccabees 1:20-42; 2 Maccabees 5:1-23). His arrogance was unbounded (1 Maccabees 1:24-25; cp. Dan 7:28; 8:9).
Rashi on Daniel 11:28
And he will return The Roman king [will return] to his land from [fighting] with the king of the south with many possessions.
and his heart is on the covenant with the holy ones to abrogate his treaty with Israel.
and he will succeed Heb. וְעָשָׂה, lit. and he will do, i.e., and he will succeed and return to his land.
